Cooking for yourself to find joy
Getting out of my cooking rut through the magic of cabbage
Hello! What new ingredient did you try this week?
I’m definitely in a cooking rut. It’s late February, I’m consistently sleepy, there’s a lot going on in the world, and I’ve been finding it hard to plan anything past my own nose, let alone for dinner. I think I’ve also been putting pressure on myself to create a bunch of my own recipes recently, so I have been looking at NYT Cooking or cookbooks for inspiration, not just for the recipes.
But I managed to get out of the rut last week with my ingredient of the week: cabbage! My whole week has been punctuated by cabbage. First, I made this fantastic Caramelized Cabbage and Walnut Pasta by Hetty McKinnon. I just searched for “cabbage” on the NYT Cooking app, and boy were there a lot of good-looking things I had never considered making before! I chose this recipe because it has flavor profiles I know I like, and I already had a leek in the fridge I wanted to use up. I’m not going to post the full recipe here because it’s not mine, but you basically caramelize the cabbage down with leeks and garlic and cumin seeds, and add parmesan and pasta water. It’s an amazing way to eat cabbage, because the slow cook gets rid of all the cruciferous taste, and you’re left with tangy, semi-sweet greens. I’m now thinking it would be really great with bacon added to it!
Making the cabbage pasta recipe reminded me how much I love discovering new ingredients and recipes. Tried and true meals are always great, and having a go-to rotation can be a big save, especially on busy weeknights. But there’s also nothing like finding a new ingredient, preparing it in a new way, and creating something unexpectedly delicious.
Because there is joy to be found in standing in front of a pot of pasta, and creating something with intention (that, bonus, you can also eat!). Whether you’re riffing on a reliable recipe, like I did this week with my tofu katsu (recipe below), or you’re choosing a new recipe based on its beautiful cookbook picture, or you’re just taking whatever you have in your fridge and putting it all together, cooking for yourself is a chance to be present, be creative, and do something that makes you feel good.
What new ingredient did you try last week? Did you make anything with it? Let me know in the comments!
In the news—World Central Kitchen, led by Chef Jose Andres, is a really great organization that uses food and cooking as a humanitarian response whenever the need arises. Right now, they’ve set up spots along the Ukrainian border where they are providing food and hot meals to people having to flee their country. They’re also supporting restaurants within Ukraine, in Odessa and Lviv. I encourage you to check out more of their work in Ukraine here.
New recipes on the site
Below, you’ll find a collection of the new recipes I’ve added to the site! You can always find these, and more, in my Recipe Archive as well.
Tofu katsu with a fluffy egg and frizzled scallions
Time: 30 mins | Difficulty: 2/5 | Recommendation: Weeknight meal
A few months ago, I discovered a recipe from the brilliant Woon Heng for tofu katsu—basically, flattened, breaded tofu that’s fried, taking the place of chicken—and I have fallen in love. It’s become one of the meals in my go-to rotation, because it’s simple yet super flavorful and full of texture. She is vegan, and I am not, so I’ve adjusted mine to be non-vegan, using real egg in the batter. If your oil is hot enough, you don’t have to fry the tofu slices for very long, so they don’t get an oily texture. I like to make a sauce for the top based on Thai chili paste and mustard, and I also like to cook the leftover egg I used to batter the tofu. If you drop a whisked egg into super hot oil, it immediately puffs up and gets sooo fluffy!! You gotta try it! It’s so fun. I recommend having this tofu over rice, which soaks up the sauce really nicely, or noodles.
Ingredients/tools:
2 slices of tofu, about 3/4 inch thick (preferably thawed from frozen)
Rice flour
Panko bread crumbs
1 egg
Vegetable oil
2 scallions, chopped thinly on a diagonal
For the sauce:
Thai red chili paste
Dijon mustard
Soy sauce
A dash of rice vinegar
Honey
Chili flakes
Immersion blender or whisk
Method:
Whisk the egg in a bowl. Pour some rice flour on a plate, and spread some Panko on another plate.
Dip the tofu first in the rice flour, then the egg, then coat well with the Panko.
Heat some vegetable oil in a skillet, about half an inch deep. When it’s piping hot, place the tofu in the skillet. Fry on each side for about a minute or so, until crispy and golden brown. Drain on a paper towel and sprinkle on some salt immediately.
Pour the whisked egg directly into the hot oil. It will puff up kind of like a thin omelette. Flip it as needed—you only need to cook it for about 30 seconds. Add salt and pepper, then drain on a paper towel.
Lastly, toss the whites of the scallions in the oil for about 10 seconds until they get crispy and start to brown.
Make the sauce, adding all of the ingredients plus a touch of water, and immersion blending. (You can also just whisk it all, but blending the sauce aerates it and gets it suuuper smooth!)
Layer up! Rice, tofu, sauce, fried scallions, egg, and the scallion greens on top.
Mac and Cheese bites
Time: 45 mins | Difficulty: 4/5 | Recommendation: Weekday lunch or dinner
Finally, I’ve cracked the recipe for mac and cheese bites!! Turns out, the key was freezing them for many hours. I used some leftover Annie’s mac and cheese, because, let’s be honest, as much as Annie’s is pretty much my favorite food, it just is not as good the next day. However, coating clumps of Annie’s in egg and bread crumbs, and then frying the clumps…that is good. And even the leftover leftovers are good the next day! Just warm them up in the microwave. Of course, you can use your own favorite mac and cheese here, or even make your own if you’re feeling REALLY ambitious.
Ingredients/Tools:
Annie’s mac and cheese (prepared according to box directions)
1 egg
A dash of milk
Breadcrumbs
Spices: salt, pepper, chili powder
Vegetable oil
Ice cube tray (silicone works best)
Method:
Let your mac and cheese cool, and then place into the ice cube tray. Freeze until totally hard and congealed, at least 3 hours or preferably overnight.
Whisk the egg and mix with a bit of milk. Place breadcrumbs in another bowl and mix in the spices.
Remove a mac and cheese cube. Dip it in the egg mixture, then roll it around in the breadcrumbs. Repeat, egg and breadcrumbs, until fully coated. Set aside. (If you have a lot of cubes to coat, you might want to set it back in the fridge or freezer.)
Pour about an inch and a half of oil into a big pot and heat. When the oil is hot enough to make the egg frizzle, drop in a few mac and cheese bites at a time. Turn once. Remove when browned and crispy, and drain on a paper towel. Serve with some marinara sauce!
Dutch baby with Chai-blackberry jam
Time: 30 mins | Difficulty: 2/5 | Recommendation: Breakfast
Dutch babies are amazing! It’s the simplest batter, but when you add it to lots of butter and high heat, it puffs up in the oven so you get a big pancake with crispy edges and a fluffy, custardy interior. Supposedly you’re supposed to blend the batter (like, in a blender) but that seems like a lot of extra work and cleaning. If you’re just one person, all you really need for a nice, aerated batter is some strong whisking. You can make your Dutch baby savory or sweet—this version is sweet, with a homemade jam made of blackberries and loose-leaf Chai. You could also use Earl Grey if you don’t have chai!
Ingredients/tools:
2 eggs
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup milk
1/2 tbsp sugar
3 tbsp butter
For the jam:
Blackberries
1 tbsp loose-leaf chai (I like this one from Wagh Bakri)
Sugar (about the same amount as the blackberries)
Sieve (optional)
A skillet
Whisk
Method:
Heat your oven to 425°.
Whisk the eggs, then whisk in the milk, then the flour and sugar. Whisk it all well until very smooth, then set aside to rest for a bit.
Put the butter in your skillet, and put the skillet in the oven so everything heats up together.
When the butter is fully melted and the oven is hot, pull out the skillet, and quickly pour in your batter, directly into the middle of the pan. Put it all immediately back in the oven, and bake for 15 minutes, without opening the door until the very end.
Meanwhile, make the jam: add the blackberries and sugar to a small pot, and simmer together until it all reduces and becomes jammy. About halfway through, add in the chai. When it’s starting to get sticky, but still has a good amount of liquid, put it through a sieve. (You can leave it as is if you want, it will just be a bit seedy in texture.)
After 15 minutes have passed, take out the Dutch baby and marvel at how big it has gotten!! Then remove it from the pan, sprinkle over the jam, and top with some extra fresh blackberries.